Mental health toll on people in flats with Grenfell-style cladding revealed

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/26/mental-health-toll-on-people-in-flats-with-grenfell-style-cladding-revealed

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Residents of tower blocks wrapped in combustible Grenfell-style cladding are turning to drink and drugs and suffering bouts of depression and suicidal feelings, as freeholders, developers and the government continue to refuse to fund repairs.

Scores of people still living in private flats built with the now-banned panels that helped spread the fatal fire at Grenfell have revealed the toll on their mental health to launch a national campaign calling on ministers to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to make their homes safe.

Tens of thousands of people – many first-time buyers – are living in 166 privately owned tower blocks where remedial work has yet to be completed, 22 months after the Grenfell fire claimed 72 lives. There are no plans in place for 71 blocks, according to latest government figures.

In a snapshot survey answered by nearly 200 owners in 21 buildings, 127 people told UK Cladding Action Group (UKCAG) that their mental health had been “hugely affected” by the cladding problems, 160 complained of stress and 50 said they had sought medical help as a direct result of the situation.

Seventy-five people said they had turned to alcohol and seven people to drugs as a result of the stress and 17 people said they had had suicidal thoughts or feelings of self-harm.

Leaseholders are facing bills of tens of thousands of pounds each to fix their homes. Some have even been conducting their own 24-hour fire watches to reduce the costs of keeping residents safe in the meantime. In Manchester, one of the worst affected cities, residents at Burton Place were told last month they were each facing £80,000 bills for repairs to replace wooden cladding, combustible insulation and missing fire breaks.

“My mental health is at breaking point,” said Katie Peate, 28, who bought her flat there for £220,000 and now fears it could burn down at any time. “It’s the last thing I think about at night, I dream about it and it is the first thing I think about in the morning.” She and her partner had put plans to try for a baby on hold, because of the financial uncertainty.

The housing secretary, James Brokenshire, has repeatedly insisted it is the responsibility of freeholders and developers to pay, and has threatened unspecified action if they do not. This has led to frustration among private leaseholders who point out that the government started releasing a £400m fund to fix social housing last October.

Discussions are understood to be active in Whitehall about setting up a fund before the two-year anniversary of the disaster in June, but housing ministers are said to be facing resistance from the Treasury.

“I am in despair at the moment,” said Alex Di Giuseppe, 29, who fears a bill of at least £15,000 and is one of 450 leaseholders at the City Gate development in the Castlefield area of Manchester, which is built with combustible cladding.

“When I am not busy, my mind wanders to the bill I have no way to pay. If I lose my flat it would set me back so far it is unfathomable.”

Testimonies gathered by UKCAG included:

“I genuinely believe nothing will be done until we have a second tragedy in a private block ... I feel constantly stressed, anxious, depressed, lost, abandoned and devastated.”

“I am struggling to get through each day. Gone is the enjoyment of life.”

“I worry about it daily and now am in counselling because of stress and anxiety. I wake up every night worrying about everything.”

“I genuinely believe nothing will be done until we have a second tragedy in a private block ... I feel constantly stressed, anxious, depressed, lost, abandoned and devastated.”

“I am struggling to get through each day. Gone is the enjoyment of life.”

“I worry about it daily and now am in counselling because of stress and anxiety. I wake up every night worrying about everything.”

“These figures reveal nothing short of a mental health crisis among residents of these buildings,” said William Martin, a member of UKCAG and a resident of the affected Metis building in Sheffield.

“The threat of financial ruin combined with the safety fears that come from sleeping each night in a building which is known to be unsafe is ruining lives. Many residents are first-time buyers, young families and professionals at their start of their working life who simply cannot afford the bill for the refurbishment.

“In many blocks, residents have already spent their life savings paying for interim measures. It is beyond time for the government to step in and act.”

The residents have given ministers a deadline of 14 June, the second anniversary of the Grenfell disaster. Their campaign is being backed by the survivors and bereaved group, Grenfell United as well as Labour and Conservative MPs, the Chartered Institute of Housing and Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester city council.

Brokenshire said he understood the “anguish faced by those who continue to live in buildings with ACM cladding” and said the government was “looking at a range of new additional measures to get building owners to do the right thing and get on with it.”

He added: “I am considering at pace additional interventions to see that progress can be made more swiftly so that residents can feel safe in their homes.”

• In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. You can contact the mental health charity Mind by calling 0300 123 3393 or visiting mind.org.uk